Somebody Else's Nimrod

Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty

I've always been intrigued by the mundane side of the existence of supernatural characters, whether it be the problem of finding a babysitter while a mutant's out saving the world or the weird impact having superheroes in your neighborhood could have on the local dating scene. Batman is, of course, not technically a supernatural character, but he's close enough for government work (more on that some other day). The concept of Gotham Central is therefore so obvious it's amazing it wasn't done earlier: examine crime-fighting in Gotham from the point-of-view of the cops always getting shouldered aside by the Bat-family. What keeps them going, when in their universe they can border on the useless? How do they feel about the high-powered vigilantes that keep preempting them on both sides?

In the Line of Duty collects issues #1-5 in this series, and it has some of the problems you might expect from a new series. The characters are either new or at best secondary characters from other series, meaning the reader doesn't know much about them (or what she knows is untrustworthy, filtered through the superhero lens), and this is a particular difficulty for this sort of series. Say what you will about them otherwise, a memorable backstory, colorful powers, and snappy patter go a long way towards sketching in the broad outlines of a superpowered individual's character; building characterization through the routine of police work, even on the big cases of the Major Crimes Unit, takes much longer. Hence, it's not easy to get an immediate grasp on the characters (or, due to the somewhat generic figure-art, even tell the men apart). The characters slowly begin to distinguish themselves as the story moves along, but you have to be willing to make the initial investment, and to trust that the process will continue in future issues.

But there's still a lot to like here. The death that leads off the series is shocking and brutal, but it feels extremely appropriate--it's the sort of thing that would happen if the series is to be at all realistic, and so it gives you confidence to see that the creative team is willing to go there. The detectives are a diverse bunch, and the seeds of personality conflicts and office politics are clearly being planted in these issues. The plots are at least serviceable, with the first case especially providing some real moments of tension. There is humor to vary the tone, though it's fairly standard cop-show stuff. The art, while at times verging on the abstract for the figures, is effective in the cityscapes, and, no, you won't have to wince and skim past any grotesque depictions of women's bodies. Finally, a cop gets to tell off Batman, and as I've rapidly acquired more Batman Issues than, you know, Batman issues, I was glad to see it.

Being stubborn about these things, I'll probably wait for the next trade to go any further with the series (to be honest, I shudder at the thought of trying to keep track of one of the investigations from month to month), but I will pick up that next trade, and you should, too.